Puzzles
by braygirl
Summary: Puzzles can be fun at any age. But what if this puzzle was so difficult to figure out? Especially for a particular nine year old with a football head? Read and Review!


Hello Everyone! I hope you guys are enjoying my stories so far. For those of you that are waiting for updates on my other two stories "Forever and Always in the Afterlife" and "Hey Helga!" I am currently working on those as well so updates for them should be soon. I promise.

**Trust me, if you only knew the hassle that I have to endure as far as typing everything up you'd understand lol**

**It's a loooong drawn out process, that's why its been easy for me to update little things compared to long ass chapters. Lol its bad. ;) **

**Ok well…. Enough drabble! Here's another one shot that I was randomly thinking of. I really like the grandpa and Arnold talks, even if most of them don't make sense. Lol But c'mon! Who doesn't love Grandpa Phil! Eh? Eh? ….**

**Ok well here it is! **

**Disclaimer: Don't own… you know…**

"Puzzles"

"Grandma, grandpa! I'm home!" exclaimed the blonde nine year old, as he entered his boarding house.

"That you, Arnold?" replied Grandpa Phil from the kitchen. Arnold followed the sound of the old man's voice only to find him sitting at the kitchen table, working on what looked like an old jigsaw puzzle. This was the same puzzle he had been trying to put together for days. Despite how far along he had seemed to come with his pieces, the picture was still unclear.

"Hey, Grandpa." Arnold said with slight melancholy to his voice.

"Well hey there, Shortman, why the long face? Did you have a bad day at school again?" he asked as he picked up an edge piece. Arnold took a seat next to him at the table, as he subconsciously began sorting out pieces with his Grandpa Phil.

"Well, this morning was terrible, Grandpa. When I got on the bus, Helga tripped me going up the steps, and everyone laughed at me."

"Maybe it was an accident." He said nonchalantly.

"Trust me, Grandpa. This was _no_ accident. She does these things on purpose all the time." Arnold rolled his eyes in annoyance.

"Then at lunch, she put green jell-o in my chair somehow when I wasn't looking, and then I sat in it. And everyone laughed at me _again_." He continued as he fished in the pile for more pieces.

"Wait a minute. Is this that little angry girl, with the pink bow, and the one eye brow?" Grandpa Phil put a finger to his brow, as he asked suspiciously.

"Uh, yeah. Anyway, she threw thirty-seven spitballs at my head, fourteen rubber bands, that really hurt too, and three really big pink erasers!" he exclaimed loudly, not realizing his voice was increasing.

"Ya' don't say…" Grandpa replied with a sly smile, not looking up from his puzzle. At this point, Arnold lost interest in Grandpa's jigsaw, that he finally looked up at the old man, his eyes hungry for advice.

"Grandpa, I cant do it anymore. I mean, why does she have to be so mean all the time? And to only _me_?" The blonde boy questioned with such confusion yet…curiosity.

"Heh, heh, oh Arnold. It's like I already told ya'." He chuckled at his grandson.

"Helga does these things 'cause she likes ya'. It's the only way she'll get you to notice her. Let me guess, she always calls ya' names, and makes fun of your head."

"Yeah. She does." Arnold said simply.

"Picks on ya' durin' recess, and always makes a fool outta ya', am I right boy?"

"Yeah. That's exactly it. Grandpa, what are you trying to say?" Arnold asked again with more confusion, and this time more annoyance, as he clearly did not understand his own puzzle at the moment.

"Oh c'mon Arnold, wake up and smell the sausage! Helga, _likes_ ya'." He winked at the football headed boy, as he nudged and elbow in the boy's side.

"No way. There's _no_ way she'd could like me. She hates me too much." Arnold folded his arms in disbelief over the idea.

"Well, ok…if that's what ya' think. But ya' know…you could always find out for sure…" Phil couldn't stop the smile from growing across his face.

"Grandpa…" Arnold replied flatly, with his half-lidded eyes stare.

"Oh ho! I'm just teasin' ya' Arnold. Say…why don't ya' just ask her why she picks on ya'. Maybe she might have a reason. After all. You'll never know till ya' try." He raised his eyebrows at his grandson. Arnold subconsciously returned to looking for more corner pieces to the puzzle, while his brain occupied his thoughts about his own.

"Grandpa, this puzzle's hard. How long have you been working on it?" Arnold asked randomly, not sure as to why his Grandpa's toy suddenly interested him so much.

"Oh, I don't know, probably a while. Couple days, couple years! I don't really remember. Then again I cant remember what I ate for breakfast either." Phil wrinkled his forehead in thought. Arnold could only chuckle at this, as he always found both of his grandparents to be well…eccentric.

"Well, _years_ are a pretty long time to be working on the same puzzle. Still, I'm sure you'll figure it out. Ya' know. Someday…soon." Arnold couldn't help but smirk slightly at his own response, as it reminded him of a similar situation. As he picked up pieces and them put them down again, he fiddled with the only piece he realized he hadn't tried yet, to fit in the upper right hand corner below the edge. He studied the piece's edges just long to strike him that the piece he was holding was indeed the right one. The only sound that satisfied his thoughts was the soft cardboard click it made, as he fit it in to place.

"Hey, Shortman, look at that! Ya' got one. It's not so hard after all is it?" he looked up at his grandson with the same sly smile as before.

Arnold smiled at the piece, before glancing up at his Grandpa.

"Naa…just…challenging…" he trailed off in thought. As if a light switch had gone off in his football shaped brain, the young boy suddenly got up from the table.

"Excuse me Grandpa, I'll be back!" he turned to leave swiftly.

"Oh? What's the rush Arnold? Everything ok?" Phil put on a concerned look for the boy.

"Uh…yeah. I just…realized, I…uh, have something I gotta take care of. But thanks, Grandpa. Ya' know. For everything." He smiled widely at his grandfather, waved a quick good bye, and rushed out of the front door.

Grandpa Phil chuckled finally, as he waited for his grandson to leave.

"Heh, heh, heh! I'm such a wiley old coot!"

A/N: Well, that's the show folks! Hoped you guys liked it! Thinking about writing a sequel one shot to this. If it gets good reviews then maybe… REVIEW!


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